Verlander gets MLB-best 18th victory

Houston

Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings to get his MLB-leading 18th win in his first start since throwing his third no-hitter to lead the Houston Astros to a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

Verlander (18-5) allowed four hits with one run and fanned seven in his 30th start of the season. He leads the American League with a 2.52 ERA and his 264 strikeouts are second in the majors behind teammate Gerrit Cole. Will Harris struck out one in a scoreless ninth for his second save.

With the game tied at one, Josh Reddick drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning. Alex Bregman tied it up with a solo home run in the sixth inning to help the Astros improve to 15-1 against the Mariners this season with their 10th straight win over their AL West foes.

Rays 5, Blue Jays 3: Travis d'Arnaud and Daniel Robertson drove in runs with two outs in the eighth inning, helping Tampa Bay to a win over Toronto. In the eighth, Jordan Romano (0-2) walked pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi and Kevin Kiermaier hit a double. D'Arnaud lofted a pinch-hit sacrifice fly that scored pinch-runner Michael Brosseau and broke a 3-3 tie.

Twins 5, Indians 3: Mitch Garver hit his second homer of the game, a three-run shot, in the seventh inning, helping Minnesota rally past Cleveland hours after the Twins learned pitcher Michael Pineda had been suspended for violating MLB's drug policy. Garver set a Twins single-season record for home runs by a catcher with a solo shot that opened the scoring in the first inning. He capped the Twins' comeback with his 28th of the season. Minnesota has a 51/2-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central after the teams split the first two games of the series.

Brewers 3, Cubs...